New Cell Structure In Humans Discovered By Scientists

October 30, 2018

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New Cell Structure In Humans Discovered By Scientists

Scientists at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden with UK teammates have discovered a novel cell structure in Humans. As per the research paper published in Nature Cell Biology, this new structure is a protein complex used by the cells to attach to its surrounding. It is believed the novel protein complex plays a key role in cell division.

The cells surface as receptor molecules that look over the assembly of large protein complexes inside them. These receptors connect outside matrix with cell interiors which enables the cell to analyze its environment and hence it responds accordingly.

These novel structures named as reticular adhesions has a unique molecular composition unlike the current adhesion receptors already known.

Staffan Strömblad, Principal investigator – professor at Karolinska Institutet in a statement showed us how excited the team was on the discovery of such a novel structure. He says its indeed surprising to know that such kind of structures was still unknown to us.

These reticular adhesions can open up answers to questions on how during cell division process the cell remains to its extracellular matrix. As per current theory, the adhesion complex dissolves during cell division allowing the cell to divide. But the current discovery falsifies this statement.

In an experiment done by the researchers on human cell lines using confocal microscopy, the adhesion complex was blocked which resulted in the disruption of its memory function. Hence they concluded that these new cell structures oversee the capacity of daughter cell to take up the right position after cell division takes place.

Studies will now be done to examine how this new protein complex behaves in living organisms. It will be interesting to see how it behaves in other environments. This novel discovery may open doors to an exploration of areas of human cell still unexplored.